


Sentinel and Empath

by Foodmoon



Series: Hawaii in Space [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010), The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hood ornament, M/M, Pre-Slash, Space AU, job offer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-03-16 19:56:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13643364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon
Summary: Continuation of 'Finding a Sentinel'.In which a kitten terrorizes cops, Hawaii is a weird sorta-parallel version, Steve has a son, and other strange things.





	1. Phone Call

**Author's Note:**

> Hemide: Interstellar Empire with Empaths as a known portion of their populace.
> 
> Vandan: Interstellar Empire with Sentinels as a known portion of their populace. (They call empaths 'Guides' for reasons that Hemideans don't care to understand.)
> 
> Hawaii: Country consisting of islands on the largely tropical planet of Pacifica, in the Hemidean Empire
> 
> For more complete worldbuilding notes, see first page of 'Finding a Sentinel'.

It hits him sometimes. He’s old. Sure he looks the same, feels the same, he’s the same man who went into the Exchange all those years ago; he hasn’t changed, but time has moved on.  
  
His son is grown now, his little sister has lived more than twice as long as he has, and his parents are very old or dead by now. He doesn’t know, hasn’t heard yet. It hurts, and yet it’s removed. He can’t process it, because he doesn’t know for sure. It helps in some ways that he’s in a different Empire, star systems apart from where he’d grown up and lived his life; that he’s dealing with a whole new culture, not just him having been left behind by his own. He thinks that would be a special kind of torture, and he’s glad to avoid it.

Sam appears and stares at him, then swats his hand and disappears again.

He blinks.

Okay then. Apparently he’s just been schooled on not moping by a cat.

Granted, a cat whose main joy in life is luring in unwary cops and terrorizing them. Lately, he’s added stalking other officers who’ve been hassling Danny about not having his own spirit animal to his repertoire. Honestly, Steve’s a bit curious about what Danny’s will turn out to be. Every sentinel and guide has one, after all, it’s just that some of them are shy or can’t be bothered to show up much, if at all. Well, _empath._ Danny’s right that people tend to just blink at him blankly if he calls them guides.

But, on the theme of not moping, he needs to call the Governor.

He’s found a place for them that’s suitable, but it turns out that getting his money made available to him again is a little more complicated than he expected. No one else can touch it, of course, but he either needs to go to the Hemidean capital in person, or he needs the local head of government to sign off on it in order to access it himself.

He picks up the phone and calls.

It’s as depressing as he expected. He’s put on hold twice before he can even ask to speak to the Governor. Then, because he doesn’t have an appointment and they seem to have no intention of letting him set one up, he finally pulls the Sentinel card. Then he’s passed up the chain of authority three times before he gets the Governor’s secretary. Who pulls the same run around that the first grunt had pulled. Fed up, he snaps,

“Tell Governor Jameson that Lieutenant Commander Sentinel Steven J. McGarrett of the Vandan Navy wishes to speak to her, either now or tomorrow, and see what she says.”

“Of course, sir, please hold just a moment.” The secretary sounds a bit worried now.

There is a pause before the phone is picked up on a different line.

“Hello, Lt. Commander Garrett, this is Governor Jameson speaking. What business does the Vandan Navy have with me today?” Her tone is pleasant, but alert.

Steve winces. “Sorry about that, ma’am. I shouldn’t have implied I’m currently still in the Vandan Navy. I honestly just wanted to make a short appointment to speak to you about having my funds in the Exchange released into an accessible account. All I really need from you is a signature.”

Jameson chuckles. “Well, that’s a relief. Having inter-Imperial matters land on my doorstep suddenly was worrying. A signature you say? I can do that. Just give me a few minutes to check. I probably have that in my inbox somewhere. I usually ignore the Exchange notifications because they’re just rote information that I don’t need to do anything about.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

“Oh, do call me Pat. What’s a former Lt. Commander doing in Hawaii of all places?”

“Thank you, Pat. And please, call me Steve. I’m here because I couldn’t find a Guide in Vandan, and entered the Exchange when my control slipped too much to be able to stay in the Navy.”

“And you finally found your Empath here?” She sounds tickled by the prospect.

“Yes.” Steve smiles because he can’t help it. “He’s a good man, a good cop. It’s a real coincidence, actually. He just moved here from Jersey because his ex-wife moved here and brought the kids with her. And they just rotated me into the Hawaii Exchange Center recently.”

“Sounds like fate. _Ahh, here we go._ So you like your Empath? Does he treat you well?”

“He does, and I do, very much.”

“Excellent.” She makes a sound of surprise. “You were a SEAL?”

“Yes, ma- er, Pat. I was. Is that a problem?”

“No, of course not, Steve. Tell me, what’s your spirit creature like?”

“My- Oh. Sam the Red is a kitten.”

“A kitten? So he’s red?”

“No. Er, that is, he’s orange, but that’s not where the name comes from. Um.”

Pat sounds amused. “I sense a story there.”

“He, uh, may or may not have sent a cop to the ER with scratches that required 23 stitches the first time he materialized.” He admits sheepishly.

“Oh dear.” Her tone says the opposite. “Alright, that pesky signature has been sent, so you should have access within a day or two at most. Now that is taken care of, I have a question for you, Steve. How would you like to head up a taskforce that has jurisdiction over all of Hawaii?”

It’s so shocking, Steve doesn’t know what to say.

“I’ve surprised you? Well, you may not know, but Hawaii has a lot of problems with criminals going from island to island to jump jurisdictions because we don’t have any interjurisdictional police force. And unfortunately, we don’t currently have anyone with the type of experience required to set one up and lead it. Except you. Now, I realize that you don’t have any civilian law enforcement experience, but I can give you full power to recruit anyone you feel suitable to work with you on this, and as you said your Empath is a cop, he can help you learn what you need to know. You, of course, would only answer to me, or whoever is Governor after my term is up."

It’s a fantastic offer, and Steve really wants to accept, but there’s a big problem. “Can I consider it for a while? I barely know anyone here yet, and I don’t feel I could currently make informed choices on good teammates. There’s also a difference between Hemidean and Vandany laws as well as the fact that I am about 40 years behind on tech. Pat, I want to be frank with you. Until I brush up on those things, and until I know who I can trust, I’m worthless to you. I would be a liability, because anyone would leap at the chance to serve on a force like that and I wouldn’t know if they were trustworthy or not. I’d have no way of knowing if they were abusing their position.”

“Well, I do like an honest man, Steve.” She sounds disappointed but thoughtful. “Well, how about this? Brush up on those things and find people you can trust. Then get back to me with your decision. In the meantime, I’ll set up the paperwork for it and have it ready to go for if you say ‘yes’.”

“You’re awfully trusting, Pat.”

“Oh please! You’re a Sentinel bonded to a cop, and according to your file you’re ex- Navy Intelligence, and were given an honorable discharge from the SEALs. The probability of someone like you not being trustworthy is pretty low. And Hawaii desperately needs this.”

Steve laughs a little, because he knows she’s right. Chief Manaka and some of the other cops have mentioned the problem. “Alright, Pat. It sounds like an acceptable proposal to me, but I retain the right to say ‘no’ if I think I won’t be able to make it work or if my Guide objects.”

“Fair enough.” She agrees a bit sourly. Then adds, “Feel free to call me if you have other questions, of course.”

“I will. Thank you, Pat. And thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I’ll let you go now, sounds like you have another call incoming.”

“Sentinel ears.” She says in amusement. “Yes, I do. I’ll look forward to your answer, Steve. Goodbye.”

“Bye.” He replies, but she’s already hung up.

Steve stares at the phone, then curses as he notices the time. Danny gets pissy if Steve strands him at the station and Meka ends up dropping him off. Once! He’d made that mistake once! With another curse, he grabs the car keys and runs for the car.

When he arrives with due speed _(no, that was not the tires squealing! Just ignore the tread marks okay?),_ Danny is already waiting for him with a droll expression.

“So, is there a reason Sam is playing hood ornament?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I'm wondering if Sam used some trick or if he actually punched holes through metal with his claws.


	2. Not a Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Danny discuss various things.  
> Sam finds someone new to terrorize.

Steve blinks, then cuts his eyes to the hood of the car. Once glance makes him facepalm.

Sure enough, there’s Sam, looking weirdly windblown _(since he knows the kitten can totally ignore physics and avoid getting his fur ruffled)_ and pleased as punch. He unhooks his claws from the front of the hood, mews at Danno and jumps down to run over and rub against his leg.

Danno stoops absently and scoops up the kitten, who is purring madly now. He’s the only one who can do it with impunity. Even Steve gets smacked if he does it, and anyone who doesn’t get along with Danno is liable to end up needing lots of bandages at the very least. Steve’s a little jealous, to be honest, but he’s not sure if he’s jealous of Danno’s attention or of Sam’s. It’s a tough choice. Danno gets in the passenger seat, Sam a bundle of orange and purr in one arm.

Putting the car in reverse, he backs out carefully, then drives at a normal pace.

“Hey, Danno?”

Danno gives him a suspicious look. “Yeah?”

“Once I get my paycheck, would you object to me using my funds to get us into a nicer place?” he asks, tone hesitant. He’s not entirely sure Danno doesn’t cling to his shitty apartment because he likes it.

Danny hesitates. Then shakes his head. “No, that’s fine. Rachel won’t let me take the kids on my weekends because the place is so bad. I won’t yell about it if you can find us something a little nicer, as long as you can afford the extra. My budget is already maxed out, especially with two of us eating. You know you’re grinning like a lunatic, babe? Might wanna stop before I decide you’re up to something.”

Steve snorts and keeps grinning. “There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to live in a place that’ll give us lung mold if we stick around much longer!”

“‘Lung mold’? I don’t think that’s a thing, babe.”

He hesitates. “Lung cancer from mold?”

Danno huffs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whatever you say, babe. You don’t need to make up reasons to convince me. I don’t like the place any better than you do; I’m just practical about it.”

“Yeah, and I’m practical about not wanting to live in a place that’ll make us sick.”

“Sure, babe. What do you want for dinner?”

“Pasta.”

“Really, babe? Because I can make better pasta than the stuff the places around here sell.”

“Well, I’m down with that. I know where the grocery store is.”

“Huh.” Danny squints at him. “Yeah, sure. Okay, babe. Pasta it is. Hope they have the ingredients.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re pessimistic, Danno?”

“Steven, let me explain this to you in small words so you can comprehend it with your child sized mind. Hawaii is hell. Hell is designed to torture people. That means the likelihood of the local grocery carrying all the needed ingredients is less than one in a hundred. That’s not being pessimistic. It’s being honest.”

“Danno, Hawaii is paradise, not hell. Besides, it’s a tourist area. That means they need to have stuff to keep tourists happy. Ergo, ingredients needed.”

“Babe, you have a real warped idea of how tourist traps operate. Stores don’t carry ingredients, because if they did, people wouldn’t need to eat at the restaurants.”

“Then why do they have groceries, huh, Danno?”

“All for show, babe, all for show. They sell a few things like toothbrushes, but mostly they’re just there to reassure people that they’ve got options.” Danny tells him, as they pull into the lot.

“I don’t think they’d stay in business long that way.” Steve objects as they walk up to the storefront.

“Sirs, pets aren’t allowed in the store.” The store owner states as they start to step inside.

Danny gives him a blank look. “Pet?”

“The cat.” The man points, using the same tone one might with an exceptionally slow child.

Danny looks down at Sam, who’s still limp and purring in his arms. “He’s-” He hesitates, then dumps Sam into Steve’s arms. “Here, he’s your problem child. You hold him.”

Sam stops purring.

Steve pets him in commiseration and carries him into the store.

“Sir! Pets aren’t allowed!”

“Not a pet.” Steve shoots back, following Danno.

 _“Stupid haoles.”_ The man mutters under his breath then comes around the counter to intercept them.

“Yeah, buddy, and insulting your customers isn’t smart either.” Steve retorts, but does stop when the man gets in his way.

“Look, hao-, _sir,_ you can call it whatever you want, but _that_ is a cat, and cats aren’t allowed in the store.”

Sam hisses at him but doesn’t savage him, just disappears.

The man looks spooked.

“Told you he’s not a pet.” Steve mocks and steps around him. It amuses him when the man scurries back to his counter. There’s a little placard on the counter about Empaths and Sentinels getting a discount. He’ll make sure Danno notices it before he pays. “Hey, Danno! What are we looking for?” he calls, catching up with his longer stride.

There is a yelp behind him as Sam reappears, now on the counter, and just sits there staring at the store owner with narrowed blue eyes, the tip of his orange tail twitching ominously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve is right that molds can be dangerous, but their main danger is an allergic reaction. Reactions can range from mild to severe, but even the mild ones are not pleasant and the severe ones are potentially quite dangerous.
> 
> Grocery stores in high tourism areas can range from excellent to stunningly bare of anything useful for making a real meal.
> 
> Steve is absolutely up to something, but his emotions match his words well enough for Danny to not worry about it. Danny maybe should have paid a _little_ more attention to the phrasing, though.
> 
> Editing comments and other comments are welcome, but please be gentle.


	3. New Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's already half moved them into their new apartment before Danny's even seen it.

Danny eyes Steve’s bouncy expression, then his car. The back seat is stuffed with boxes. He’s pretty sure he recognizes the few things peeking out. “Babe, is that all my worldly goods?”

“Uh.” Steve pauses, then looks sheepish. “No? I mean I took the rest over earlier.”

Danny trades an amused glance with Meka. “You’re pretty excited about the new place, aren’t you? You sure we can afford it, babe?”

“All paid for.” Steve practically sings, _(and Danny’s sure that if he wasn’t firmly ensconced in the driver’s seat he’d be bouncing on his toes in excitement. It must be the lack of ‘lung mold’ or something in the new apartment.)_

“Alright, babe.” Danny tells him, and plucks Sam off the hood as he walks around to the passenger’s side. He gets in the car, still cradling the slightly miffed looking kitten, who had definitely enjoyed his prior adventure as a hood ornament _waaay_ too much.

“Sam, you aren’t as sneaky as you think you are.”

Sam bats a soft, bright orange paw at his chin and gives him an _‘I am a cute and innocent kitty’_ look.

“Uh-huh, not buying it.” Danny informs him drily as he buckles up awkwardly with his free hand. He waves goodbye to Meka, then spends the rest of the drive with his attention split between Sam, who is a loveable mix of purr and limp bliss, and Steve’s vastly pleased with himself and life expression, which is equally endearing. _(So maybe he has an unwarranted affection for his annoying sentinel. There’s nothing wrong with that.)_

It’s not until the car pulls to a stop and he looks up that he realizes that maybe he should have paid more attention to where they were going and asked more questions.

“Steve, this is a house.”

“Yes, Danno.” Steve says, getting out of the car like it’s no big deal.

 _“A house, Stephen!_ We can’t afford a house! We can barely afford a shitty apartment!”

Steve pauses in the act of reaching for a box. “You said you wouldn’t yell about it if I used my funds.”

He narrows his eyes at his sentinel, suddenly realizing that maybe their little conversation about housing was more scripted than he’d assumed. _“‘Funds’, Steven?_ Do you really expect me to believe whatever you’re being paid for being my sentinel on the job covers this? Try again.”

Some of Steve’s inward glee shifts to self-righteous defensiveness, and his expression stiffens. “I said my funds, Danno, not my paycheck. I just couldn’t do it before because my funds were held up in the Exchange until I could get all the paperwork through. And you said you wouldn’t yell.”

Danny clenches his fists, but Steve is right, he did promise, so he forces himself to relax his fists before getting out of the car with movements made rough with anger and looks around. It looks like a huge stand of vegetation to the right of the house has been butchered recently, with the remnants razed nearly level with the ground. Several other spots bear evidence of similar if less wide-scale treatment. He raises his brows. _Okaaay, then._

It seems a lot like overkill, but Steve (or possibly the seller) must have had his reasons. Other than some short and scruffy ground level vegetation, the area looks to be mostly sand, and it looks like the house may look out onto a low lagoon, though he’ll have to go to the other side to check for sure. Naked of vegetation, the house is obviously good-sized, with a step down entrance to a single story building section that adjuncts onto a higher, two story section to the left, which comprises of the main structure of the building. The location is stunning, and there’s visible space between the house and the next property to either side. Combined with Hawaii’s terrifying housing prices…

“This must have cost a fortune, babe.”

Steve pauses on the step, box in his arms, to turn and flash him a grin. “Nah. Former owner overdosed in the front parlor and there were rumors that it was murder and that the guy left a ghost. They couldn’t get the place to sell even at half price. Got a bargain on it after they figured out we’re a sentinel/guide pair.”

“Empath.” Danny corrects absently, but grins back. “You did good, babe. Just don’t mention the death and possible murder thing to Rachel, and she’ll be happy to let the kids come over. And also? Don’t think I’ll forget you being all sneaky about this.”  
  
Steve beams at the praise, then winces at the reminder and scurries into the house.

Danny tilts his head back and looks at the sky. He can wait a while to get his revenge for the sneaking. And given how happy Steve is about the place, he’ll at least have a bed tonight so his back will hate him less.

_“Mmrrrooworoww!”_

He jolts at Sam’s triumphant yowl and follows the sound to find the kitten has somehow managed to install himself on top of the lower roof’s ridge. Yeah, okay. And if Rachel somehow finds out about the supposed ghost, he can point out that cats are territorial little menaces and ghosts are no match at all. And he can get ahold of the tox report if he needs to prove to her that it was suicide, not murder. Besides, Grace and Charlie will adore the place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looked up Steve's house before writing this and was a bit appalled at the absolute _wall_ of vegetation that surrounds the place. I'm sure there's good reasons for it, such as a privacy screen/windbreak, but I can't imagine that an exSEAL would be comfortable with having his line of sight blocked so thoroughly close in on a house he's purchasing vs growing up in. (And perhaps for other reasons.) So Steve buys the house and promptly decimates every stand of vegetation close to it, before Danny can see it and argue with him about it.
> 
> Thanks, everyone for your encouragement and questions, I really enjoy getting them and they help me plot new scenes.
> 
>  ~~I know it's rough, no need to tell me.~~  
>  Comments and editing comments are welcome, but please be gentle.  
> And fair warning, I'm likely to talk your ear off in reply. I try not to, but I'm bad at refraining most of the time.


	4. Steve blanket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is clingier than Danny thought.

Danny admits that he may have overestimated the effect of lack of alternate sleeping spaces in the shitty apartment on the sheer clinginess of Steve’s sleeping habits.

His first clue should have been the fact that there was only one bed in the entire house, albeit a bed large enough to easily accommodate someone of Steve’s size and a partner as well. He lets Steve brush it off as wanting to redecorate the other rooms for the kids and as a guest bedroom. Steve and his kids have this mutual adoration thing going on, after all, and it’s touching that Steve is planning ahead to include them in their lives like it’s a natural thing to do. And he can’t argue that it is a bad thing to have a guest room; Steve’s so friendly that they’re bound to have guests eventually, and he really doesn’t want to put them in the kids’ rooms. It doesn’t occur to him to wonder why Charlie, who is too young to need a separate room, gets a room of his own when Danny doesn’t.

Probably the fact that Steve assumes they’re sharing a bedroom _(even if it’s a nice, spacious master bedroom)_ , should have been his second clue. But he doesn’t really think about it. It’s not uncommon for Sentinels to be uneasy or even neurotic about sleeping in separate rooms from their Empaths. There’s nothing particularly illogical about the set-up to make him question it.

Not even the fact that there’s only one thin, thin coverlet on the bed clues him in. It is Hawaii, after all, and the room is baking with lingering late afternoon heat, even with the windows wide open.

A six-foot-plus blanket of sentinel is pretty hard to miss, though.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

“Sleeping.”

“Well, maybe you could do that on the _other half_ of the bed?”

“No.” Steve objects, shoving his face more firmly between Danny’s ear and the pillow.

“Steve-”

“No!”

Danny winces, because that was basically shouting in his ear. “Babe, get off. You’re heavy!”

He can feel Steve thinking about that.

“You didn’t complain before.” He finally says.

“It was a couch, babe. Half your weight was propped up instead of on me. And it’s not like there was a better place to put you.”

Steve straight up whimpers at that, and Danny shoves him off in irritation, because _his ear._

“Seriously, babe. Do not do that in my ear! Look-”

 _“Danno.”_ Steve says pathetically, giving him sad, sad eyes.

Danny shoves the spare pillow in his face before the begging eyes can short circuit what he’s trying to say. “Babe. Just no. I need to breathe, okay? I can’t do that with your weight on me.”

He elbows Steve in the chest when he tries to slither octopus-like back on top of him now that the pathetic look has failed. It doesn’t stop him, but it does slow him to incremental sneaking. _Annnd_ Steve is thinking again. Danny rolls his eyes. “Sorry, babe. Changing physics is a bit beyond you. I still need to breathe, and I still won’t be able to do that with you on top of me.”

“So, if my weight isn’t on you-?”

Danny rolls his eyes. “Yes, fine. I’m not trying to get rid of you. I just need to breathe.”

Something like a mental hum of satisfaction emanates from Steve and he plasters himself to Danny’s side, wrapping his long limbs around him like a strangler vine, and says in a smug tone, “Night, Danno.”

“Good night, Stephen.”

Somehow Danny is less than surprised to come home a couple days later to discover a body length, triangular backrest pillow has taken up residence on their bed. There are about ten fancy pillow covers to go with it. It smells faintly of perfume, so he’s pretty sure Steve fast talked someone out of it.

The only thing he can’t figure is why anyone _(besides Steve, who obviously has a few screws loose)_ would even conceive of having one that large made. Hawaii has mysteries that even a cop shouldn’t solve if he wants to keep his sanity.

As a solution, the Great Triangle of Doom is only partially successful. Half the time it gets shoved off the bed while they’re sleeping and Danny ends up waking up just enough to shove Steve off of him so he can breathe. While Danny’s okay with it, Steve feels like sleepy sulk every time it happens.

So maybe he should have expected it, but Danny is _less than amused_ when he comes home a few weeks later to find Steve has used fishing line to stitch a Triangle-of-Doom cover to all four set of sheets they own.

 _“Babe.”_ He stops there, at an utter loss for words for once. Finally, he manages, _“Fishing line, Stephen?”_

“It’s stronger than regular thread.” Steve offers a bit sheepishly, _like that’s the problem._

 _He has no words for this._ Danny holds out his hand. “Keys.”

Looking puzzled, Steve hands them over.

Danny stomps downstairs, drives into town and buys three sets of silk sheets. He threatens Steve with castration if anything finds itself mysteriously stitched to them. As retaliation, it’s _grand._ Steve’s torn between sulking because the Great Triangle of Doom _will not_ stay put on the silk sheets, and reveling in the feel of the sheets themselves. Danny counts it money well-spent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny already has plans to use the silk sheets every time Steve annoys him enough.
> 
> He still hasn't come up with a suitable retaliation for the house sneaking, though.


	5. Scream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Steve screams and Danny is armed with a toothbrush (and barefoot).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I am an evil author, and I love you all. ;3

Danny is halfway down the stairs, toothbrush in hand, before his brain catches up and he realizes that he probably should have stopped to grab his gun in response to the terror filled shriek before rushing in. On the other hand, Steve is no longer screaming and there are no sounds of a fight going on, so it’s _possible_ that Steve merely opened a container of sour cream and found mold or something. Steve does have an unreasonable distaste for mold. And okay, not that it’s _wrong_ to hate mold, but Steve takes it to extremes usually seen only in housewives with OCD. At least, he hopes that’s the case. Anything that can take down his sentinel without a fight after a single scream _(and why had Steve screamed anyways?)_ , is not something he feels the urge to fight with a toothbrush.

Feeling ridiculous, he stomps down to the kitchen and peers inside. Steve is on top of the island counter, clearly fine other than the expression of utter distaste and mild horror on his face as he stares fixedly at the floor. And by ‘on top of’, Danny means Steve’s boots are leaving prints on the counter where he’s crouching, holding himself like a predator not quite sure the scary prey-thing is dead.

Danny follows his gaze to the floor, where a knife is sticking out of the floor at an angle that suggests it was flung from the counter or possibly while Steve was jumping on top of it. Impaled by the knife is…Danny squints…a large cockroach. Lovely.

“Babe. I’m pretty sure it’s dead.”

“It wiggled a leg like two seconds before you walked in, Danno.” Steve sounds deadly calm, but he feels like hysteria.

“Sure it did, babe. That’s called post-mortem twitches.” Danny doesn’t _like_ bugs, but he’s not afraid of them.

“A leg, Danno!” And there’s the hysteria peeking out. Which? Hilarious, but he really doesn’t need Steve to totally flip out and decide that _he’s_ a better perch than the counter. Rachel’s friend had done that once. Explaining it to Rachel had been nerve wracking, but in this case he’s more worried about the fact that Steve is larger than him and he really doesn’t want to have a hysterical person half again his weight attached to his head by all four limbs.

Steve’s nostrils flare and his head swivels to pin Danny with too wide eyes. “Stop thinking about Rachel.”

Danny weighs his options.

On the one hand, Steve’s obsession with him not thinking about Rachel is a little creepy. Particularly for the accuracy with which he can pinpoint where Danny’s thoughts go when he doesn’t have Empathy himself. On the other hand, if he points out why he thought about her, Steve is going to remember the cockroach and go back to hysteria. Hm. He beckons.

Steve’s eyes light with curiosity, and he jumps down and comes over.

Danny hands him the toothbrush. “Babe, why don’t you go clean the toothpaste I spit off the mirror. I’ll take care of the B. U. G.”

Steve makes a complicated expression torn between mild disgust at being so easy to bait into compliance, and nervous horror of the dead cockroach behind him, before nodding and meekly obeying without a word.

He waits until Steve is well up the stairs before muttering, “Babe, how did you ever make it as a SEAL when you’re terrified of _bugs_?”

 _“Cockroaches!”_ Steve shouts back, obviously having his ears still tuned to Danny. _“Only inside! And knives. Lots and lots of knives!”_

Danny snorts and goes to pick the knife and its victim out of the flooring. _“Quit listening unless you want to hear me extract a knife from bug guts!”_

 _“Dannooo!”_ Steve whines in horror, voice fading as he retreats.

A single glance at the retrieved knife is enough to make him grimace. So much for a good kitchen knife. The tip has broken off under the surface of the flooring, and he’s not inclined to try to dig it out. Steve can buy a new kitchen knife and save this one for future cockroach murders. He shakes his head; he knows Steve got commendations in his work for the Vandan Navy as an intelligence officer and a SEAL, but now he has to wonder how much of that success is due to him being a paranoid sentinel listening in case a _large insect_ manages to sneak up on him.

“Mrew?”

Danny looks up at the timid sound and spots Sam on top of the refrigerator, ears folded flat, staring fixedly at the dead thing on the knife as if it’s going to rise from the dead and start hunting him. “Oh, not you too!”

Is he the only one with common sense in this house? If there’s a zombie apocalypse, all the zombies need to do is make sure there’s a few bugs in their ranks to take a full grown Sentinel and his spirit animal out of the battle, apparently. And Danny too, because he has no doubts that in lieu of a counter and refrigerator or other higher ground, the pair will try to climb _him_ , and the zombies will eat them all before he can pry them loose.

He buries the tiny corpse in the garbage and sighs as he washes off the now broken knife. He’ll have to remember to warn his mother and Rachel about Steve’s little affliction so there’s not misunderstandings.

“Mrewew?”

Sam is now standing on the edge of the counter, peering doubtfully into the trash can.

 _Oh, right. And Sam’s matching affliction_.

“No, it did not just twitch. It’s _dead._ Although, you know, Hawaiians have this belief that if you spend too much time thinking about the dead, they revive as zombies and come for you.” He adds mendaciously.

The look of freaked out horror Sam tosses him before he hurriedly backs away and poofs into the aether is 100% worth the lie.

“Though you know,” he calls out, straight faced, “I’ve heard that if a spirit animal kills it in the first place, it can’t come back.”

“ _Mrrrrewwwww!_ ”

The tremulous sound coming out of thin air sounds an awful lot like _‘Nooooooo!’_ to Danny’s ear. He turns his face in the opposite direction to hide his grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danny is going to have a lot of fun with this. (Maybe not onscreen, though.)
> 
> I suspect Steve's fellow SEALs thought it funny to provide him with extra throwing knives and let him be pest control.


	6. Chain of Events

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It just takes one ring...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spot a weird typo, point it out, please. I need a nap in the worst way, so I'm posting this without editing it first.
> 
> Shifting POVs in this chapter.

Steve is bothering the pretty, dark haired doctor because she is nice and bothering people is kind of what he does to A. avoid driving Danno up the wall _(because he really doesn’t want to be responsible for Danno losing his job despite how funny watching Danno lose it is)_ and B. because he really does need to find trustworthy people if he’s going to accept the Governor’s offer _(which he should probably tell Danno about soon, but he wants to avoid that particular patch of yelling for a while)_.

She leans forward to reach for something, and he notices what he’s assumed is a pendant beneath her blouse is actually a ring.

“Nice ring.” He compliments casually.

“Thanks.” She says in an absently pleased tone and actually makes a habitual gesture like she’s twisting the ring on her finger before it clicks and she glares at him, grabbing the ring that’s still under her blouse.

He grins at her. “Who’s it from? You obviously treasure it.”

She glares at him a moment longer, then relaxes. “My fiancé. He’s- He was a cop until someone framed him. Then he broke up with me and told everyone I broke up with him, because he didn’t want me to get hassled over something he didn’t do.”

Steve gazes at her thoughtfully. She smells angry and hurt, but not like lies. And her face reflects that perfectly. It’s hard to lie to a Sentinel, particularly when one doesn’t know they’re facing a Sentinel. If someone thought her fiancé was a good enough cop to need to be gotten out of the way…

~

“So, did you do it?”

Chin just about comes out of his skin at the unexpected voice, and he glares up at the tall haole who somehow has managed to sneak up on him. At work. He’s supposed to be a security guard, not sleeping on the job! His life just gets better and better.

“Yes.” He says stubbornly. How the haole found out, he has no idea, but there’s nothing else he’d be asking about, right? And even if his aunt Mele is dead now, he doesn’t want his uncle to be shamed for trying to keep her alive.

The tall haole rocks back on his heels, expression thoughtful.

“That’s so many flavors of lie that I can’t parse them all.” He says in a non-judgmental tone.

Chin feels like he’s been punched. “Who the hell are you, haole? And what do you want?”

“If you quit calling me haole, I’ll tell you.”

Okay, fair. But… “I don’t know what else to call you.”

There’s a flash of easy grin. “Steve. I want to know if you want a job.”

“I _have_ a job.” He points out suspiciously. He’s not a cop anymore, but he’s not some budding criminal either.

This deters Steve not a whit. “One with a Governmental task force with interjurisdictional authority.”

“Are you crazy? I’m a dirty cop.”

“Uh-huh. Would it help if I mentioned I’m a Sentinel?”

Chin pales. Because, okay, arguing with a sentinel about who’s lying about what is pretty much a losing proposition. “What’s a sentinel doing with a taskforce anyways? No one lets you precious little clones near danger.”

Steve grins again. “Not a clone. Retired Vandan SEAL. And you might know my Guide. Detective Danny Williams?”

He blinks. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but he has to think about it for a moment. Wasn’t there a foreign transfer by that name around the time that his aunt died? Malia had mentioned him, and then… “Wait. That short, bad-tempered blond ha- from off planet?”

This time the smile is brilliant and a little goofy. “That’s him!”

Then it strikes him. “There is no ‘governmental taskforce’.”

“Not yet.” Steve agrees easily. “The Governor wants me to form one, but I’m an outsider here, and it’s not easy to find people I can trust with that sort of position. Have anyone you’d like to recommend?”

“Kono-” he begins before he can catch himself.

“Kono?”

“Never mind.” His little cousin doesn’t need the grief of dealing with this annoying SEAL, legitimate job offer or not.

Surprisingly, Steve just hmmns and backs off.

~

Kono’s knee twinges, and she curses mentally as she loses her balance and goes tumbling into the wave. Fortunately a small one. She manages to locate her board and stump out of the water. Whether she likes it or not, it’s time for a break if her knee’s acting up again.

A tall, pale skinned guy gets in her way. “Look, bud. So not my type.”

“Actually, I wanted to ask you about your cousin Chin. What do you think of him?”

Rage flashes through Kono. “Are you another one of those Internal Affairs guys? Because I have news for you. He’s innocent. And if that bitch of an ex-fiancée of his told you any different-”

“I know.”

“then you should- What?”

“I said, ‘I know’. Malia told me he’s innocent, and I confirmed it.”

“You- If you’ve ‘confirmed’ it, why the hell hasn’t he been reinstated, then?!”

He lifts one shoulder lazily. “Because Chin took the fall for it on purpose. Which means he knows who did it. Any ideas on who he’d do that for?”

Fury stabs her through the heart so sharply she can’t take a breath for a moment. Because she knows, _she knows_ exactly who Chin would have done this for. She jabs a finger at the stranger. “ _You_ get him cleared officially. _I’ll_ take care of Chin. I’m not going to let this nonsense ruin his life!”

He gives her a sloppy salute. “Two more questions. It’s not really fair to Malia if you hate her for being dumped by your cousin, don’t you think?”

She glowers. “And?”

“Any interest joining a government taskforce?”

Kono blinks at him. “Since there _isn’t_ one, no.”

He tilts his head in acknowledgement, then saunters off with an ease she envies since blowing out her knee and losing her spot in the professional surfing championships. Dry sand is one of the worst things, because it shifts underfoot, putting more strain on her bad knee.

~

What Chin doesn’t expect is to have Kono get in his face, apparently having pulled the truth out of thin air and do her darnedest to convince him to tell what really happened. He grits his teeth and ignores her.

He should have known better.

Next thing he knows, Malia is calling him up and guilt tripping him, and his uncle Keako is confessing at Kono’s prodding _(Chin suspects some full out yelling sessions were involved)_ and his old boss is accepting him back with suspicious ease, as are the others in the precinct.

It all happens so fast his head is still spinning, and he really doesn’t understand how it all came about until a short, blond detective he hasn’t met yet tromps through, with a …orange kitten?...napping on his head, gesticulating as he berates the man following him. A tall, dark haired man that Chin recognizes as the only ( _person_ ) creature other than a mosquito to get the drop on him in _years_ ( _and the mosquitos don’t really count_ ). The sentinel who goes by Steve.

The look on Steve’s face is openly adoring and teasing, until he senses someone looking at him and looks over at Chin. He gives Chin a smug, knowing smile. “Welcome back, Kelly!” he calls. And his tone somehow conveys, ‘ _It’s about time; I’ve been waiting on you.’_

“Who is that?” Chin grumps at the nearest cop, even though he’s pretty sure of the answer.

“Oh, him? That’s Chief Manaka’s friend Steve and his Empath, Daniel Williams. Surprisingly good detective for his attitude. Watch out for the cat though. It put Delano in the ER first day.”

Chin blinks at that.

He’s pretty sure Frank inspires that reaction in everyone at least once, so he can’t blame the cat for acting on it. And he really doesn’t care about the offworlder’s attitude. What really bothers him is that Chief Manaka is far from easily impressed, and he remembers the sentinel claiming to be one of the famed Vandan SEALs. That, and how easily his life went from ‘disgraced cop’ to having his name cleared practically overnight. Somehow the offer of a place on a governmental taskforce doesn’t seem quite so outrageous now. And he’s _certain_ that Steve is behind his life doing a sharp 180.

Somehow he’s less than surprised when Steve wanders over a couple hours later to make friends with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve doesn't know to begin with what Chin's accused of, and doesn't really care. All he wants to know is if he's actually dirty or not.
> 
> I don't really have a firm handle on Kono and Chin, so if there's something off, feel free to point it out. Particularly if you have a better suggestion for how they phrase things.


	7. Helluva Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein lots of people have a bad day for various reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some swear words here and there.  
> Tell me if you spot any glaring typos, please; I'll fix them after some sleep. :)

Danno has been twitchy all day. Worse, Sam seems to share his mood.

Well, no, scratch that.

Danno had been fine until after he’d gone to work. But shortly after he got there, he started getting progressively twitchier, pacing back and forth, snapping at people, and generally being impatient.

Sam had gone so far as to ambush Detective Kaleo, launching himself off the desk divider onto the man’s head, gouging deep scratches into his scalp, temple and ears. _BLOOD EVERYWHERE, because head wounds bleed like a sieve leaks water: quickly and copiously._ There’d been no warning and no apparent reason for the attack. Even Steve and Danno had been taken aback by the apparent maliciousness.

Forty-two stitches and a week off work.

At that point, Chief Manaka sent Danno _(and Sam, mostly Sam)_ home.

The twitchiness and pacing hasn’t abated since then, and it has Steve on edge. And look, his Danno is a good cop, with excellent instincts and Steve loves him to pieces, so when Danno snaps, _“I need to see Meka.”_ Steve doesn’t question it. He just gets in the car and drives them there. Maybe a little faster than strictly necessary.

He doesn’t know what’s wrong, and he’s pretty sure Danno and Sam don’t either, but _something_ has their instincts on edge, warning that something is wrong. Steve’s seen it before. Sure he has. A SEAL doesn’t survive on blind intel alone. If one of his buddies starts acting like hell’s about to descend on them, it’s good to be prepared to act, because chances are high that they’re correct, even if no one will ever figure out why or how they could tell.

There’d been this one guy he’d worked with a few times, who they had used as a danger gauge. He’d been nicknamed Cougar for the way he’d paced if trouble was coming. If Cougar started pacing, everyone started cleaning their guns and generally making sure their equipment would be in good working order in the near future. If he went still and tense, everyone made sure their knives were loose in their sheaths and other weapons were close at hand because action was sure to follow in short order.

They are just over a block away when the stench of burned flesh hits Steve’s nose, and Sam’s too, judging by the way his ears flatten and he growls, a sound low and vicious enough that Steve almost swerves into a pedestrian. Instead, he steps on the gas, ignoring the screeched curses of pedestrians forced to jump away as he goes through a red light. He comes in at speed, hitting the brakes hard enough to leave thick black skid marks for ten feet, and jumping out of the car without turning it off, leaving it in Park.

Danno doesn’t bother scolding him for once, just jumps out himself and follows.

The door barely slows him. The door has a shitty civilian lock that requires only one good kick to break open and admit them. Steve follows the rapidly thickening, gut wrenching smell of blood and burnt flesh, pain, terror and anger all mixed together like some poisonous scent-fog only visible to a Sentinel. Behind him, Danno starts cursing, and Steve knows he’s picked up on the scent of burnt flesh.

Meka is easy to find.

And he’s a mess. Someone has shot him twice _(poorly placed enough to make Steve think it’s not a professional killer)_ , set him on fire, stuffed his damned badge in his mouth, and left him for dead.

He’s _not_ dead. His heart is still beating and Steve can hear the faint, ragged susurration of his breath. But he damned well _will be_ if they don’t get him to the hospital immediately. Steve takes this all in as he crosses the room and hesitates only long enough to pull the badge out of Meka’s mouth so his airway isn’t obstructed before lifting him and doing a sharp about face and all but running back to the car, Danno hot on his heels.

They don’t discuss it. Without a word, Danno moves to the back to put pressure on Meka’s wounds to slow the bleeding and keep him from rolling around with the sharp movement of the car, and Steve drives. While using one hand to place an emergency call and make sure the ER knows they’re coming. And ok, Danno normally accuses him of driving like a maniac, but he’s a careful driver. Normally.

Today he’s only careful to not _actually_ run over pedestrians or _actually_ hit vehicles or buildings or objects big enough to slow the car. He leaves a trail of honking, screeching brakes, cursing, traumatized civilians, and sirens in his wake.

He doesn’t realize that Sam’s not with them, until he growls at an unfortunate hospital staffer who tries to keep them from barging directly into the ER. Steve is pretty sure Sam hasn’t _grown_ , but he’s sure as hell doing an excellent impression of being an 8 inch tall tiger in a _really bad_ temper. Before the poor man can recover, Danny steps in, berating him loudly and flashing his badge.

Fortunately, a doctor shows up before everything can go to shit, cursing and pulling on his lab coat, apparently called in because Steve had called ahead, and they are ushered quickly to where Steve can lay Meka on a gurney and he is rushed into surgery. Now he is in the doctor’s hands, and there’s nothing they can do but wait and pray and fucking kick themselves for not showing up sooner.

Steve firmly ushers Danno back to the intake desk to fill out paperwork, knowing it will distract him for at least a few minutes from dwelling too hard on whether Meka will survive or not. While Danno’s doing that, Steve goes out to park the car somewhere other than the emergency ER entrance and call Chief Manaka to have him get someone to secure the scene.

It is nearly two hours later, and Steve has had to force coffee and shitty hospital sandwiches on Danny, before they learn that the gunshots are not fatal and Meka’s vitals are fairly stable for someone with third degree burns over two thirds of his body. But only time will tell if he will wake from his coma, or if the shock will kill him.

Danny looks like he’s been punched in the gut and doesn’t fight as Steve guides him out of the hospital and takes him home.

Sam’s nowhere to be seen, and Steve’s pretty sure that he’s keeping a protective eye on Meka in case someone tries to finish the job.

They’re almost halfway home before it occurs to him. “Hey, Danno? Has anyone told Meka’s wife and kids yet?”

Danno swears profanely in a tired tone and pulls out his phone to break the news. It’s been a helluva day, and telling the family is always the worst part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third degree burns are burns that have gone through skin layers and started to burn into muscles and tendons.
> 
> Sam's earlier attack of Kaleo saves Meka's life because Kaleo's in pain, on painkillers, and definitely not at his best, so he's less thorough than he would have been otherwise.


	8. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danno and Steve go to visit Meka in the hospital. Steve makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had a bad attitude from start to finish, and it took me four full days to write. I'm half convinced that it is evil incarnate. It's probably in cahoots with my muse.  
> Feel free to point out any typos or strange grammatical errors, because I'm too tired to proof this thing properly. I'll be happy to fix them once I recover.
> 
> I have a fair number of scenes planned for this, but the muse is being a bitch about writing them, so consider this fic temporarily on hiatus. Sorry.

Meka has been transferred to Hono’s sole burn unit at a different hospital than they’d rushed him to. He hasn’t woken, but according to the doctors his vital signs have stabilized in a reassuring manner. His prognosis isn’t _good_ , per se, but it’s not _grim_ anymore, like it started out being.

No one is allowed in to see him for long, not even his wife and kids. And those who do visit are required to wear protective garments when there, to reduce the amount of germs spread around in the burn unit. Germs that are no big deal to a healthy person with intact skin are potentially lethal to someone whose skin is compromised or missing, because the skin serves as the body’s frontline germ barrier. And as anyone who has studied war tactics at all knows, if your frontline goes down, you’ve got a serious problem on your hands. Not to mention that having to fight off systemic shock from the initial injury means that Meka’s immune system is compromised even without complications.

Not that Meka’s youngest understands why she’s not allowed to see her daddy just because she has a sniffle. Amy and Billy, her mother and older brother, are already inside, and she’s working herself up to a full blown wail. None of the nurses and CNAs are having a whit of luck calming her down. Steve winces away, as he and Danno come up on the scene, not having any clue what to do with a wriggling bundle of temper and distress.

Danno, quite naturally, just huffs and swoops in, lifting little Anaia _(which startles her silent)_ , before chiding the nurses amid talking her out of her dismals. Which Steve really should have expected, because his Danno is awesome like that and has a green thumb with kids. _Is it a green thumb if it’s kids?_ _Huh_. He doesn’t know.

Watching Danno talk to that teary little face as if she’s an adult _(instead of three years old)_ and can understand every word, Steve makes a decision.

Because here’s the thing. Even with the noxious scent fog of burnt flesh clogging the air, he should have been able to catch traces of an unfamiliar scent in the house even if it was too murked to distinguish clearly. Yet there had been none, despite the perpetrator having left mere minutes before at most. Which meant that it was someone who was familiar with the house, someone Meka knows, and quite probably someone that Steve and Danno know.

Steve’s under no illusions. Someone who’s close enough to go after Meka is close enough to go after his wife and kids, who are so much more vulnerable than Meka himself. Close enough to go after Danno, too. And _that_ is…Just. Not. Acceptable.

He has some phone calls to make and paper work to do.

~

Danny decides to stay outside of the burn ward with little Anaia, obviously preferring the three year old’s company over going over to see his partner in a condition he blames himself for, even if he hasn’t said so. Steve decides to go in anyway, and inadvertently finds out where Sam has disappeared to of late. Apparently he’s taken up guarding Meka, because currently, he’s ensconced in Billy’s lap, purring madly as the boy pets him while looking lost and forlorn.

Amy looks up from where she’s holding Meka’s right hand, one of the few places on him that escaped severe burns. “Steve. I heard you found him.”

Steve rolls his shoulders, uncomfortable with the amount of gratitude in her voice. Technically, she’s correct, of course. He got there first. But… “Nah, that was all Danny. I just drove.”

A slight smile quirks one corner of her mouth briefly, telling him that she knows he’s dodging but will let him get away with it. “Well, thank you for driving. The doctors told me that even a few minutes longer could have meant he wouldn’t have survived long enough to be treated.”

He flashes her a grin, then his gaze drops to Danny’s partner. His tone is grim as he promises, “I’ll find them, Amy. Whoever did this, I’ll make sure he’s caught and punished.”

Surprise lights her eyes for a moment, then fierce resolve and gratitude. “Good.”

“Uncle Steve? Don’t you have to be a cop to catch the bad guys?” Billy asks, tone uncertain and shaky.

Steve tilts his head a little, brows lifting in surprise. It’s a fine distinction that he wasn’t aware that the six year old could make already. “Well, you’re not wrong, but you’re not right, either. Anyone can catch a bad guy, but unless they have government authority, they could get in just as much trouble as the bad guy if they went about it wrong. You are right that Hawaii has very few organizations with government authority to catch bad guys, so most people who can legally catch bad guys are cops. Got it?”

Billy nods, a look of concentration on his too-serious little face.

“An exception to this is Sentinels and Gui- er, Empaths, like me and Uncle Danno. We don’t do it often, but because of our gifts, we are allowed to track criminals and stop them, though we have to turn them over to the cops afterwards.”

“But Uncle Danny’s a cop.”

“Yes, and that’s a very good point. Because Danno is your dad’s partner, normally we wouldn’t be allowed to work on the case because we’re too close to it. But the governor made me an offer a while back, and all I have to do is say ‘Yes’ and sign some paperwork to be able to be in a position to take over the case.”

Billy looks a bit puzzled, but Amy sucks in a sharp breath.

He’s pretty sure Amy gets it. She’s a cop’s wife and a smart cookie in her own right. The only thing that trumps local authority is national authority. Something that currently doesn’t exist outside of the Governor’s office itself.

Hawaii is not far removed from royal authority. It has been a mere hundred years since the death of the last and beloved Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani, who at the end of her reign _(since none of her own informally adopted children were eligible for the throne, and rather than see the feud between her family and the previously elected royal family erupt into open warfare upon her death)_ decreed that the royal office was to be replaced with the office of Governor. She, herself, had become the first Governor, continuing to rule until her death nearly five years later. Afterwards, in honor of her, the people had given the office of Governor a five year term between elections and a reelection limit of five terms total.

And while the Royal Hawaiian Guard is still around as the Gubernatorial Guard, these days the position is largely ceremonial, reduced to being a mere honor guard except in extraordinary circumstances. Steve’s seen worse set ups. But while Hemide does have some interplanetary forces, they lack a force like the Vandan SEALs which can intervene before circumstances get truly out of hand. It’s no wonder at all that Pat wants an interjurisdictional force badly enough to offer leadership of it to an unknown Vandan ex-patriot with the general skillset for handling such things.

“So, you can catch the bad guys, Uncle Steve?”

Steve opens his mouth to give an easy promise, then closes it as he remembers how Grace would reaction to similar unintended condescension. Just because he absolutely means to catch the perp doesn’t mean Billy won’t sense a brush off, and that’s all he needs with his dad lying still and bandaged in the bed in front of him.

“I can. And I will. Because this bad guy might think to go after Danno next and I’m not letting that happen.” He hesitates, then adds, “Be careful yourselves, though. Just because this perp went after your dad when he was alone doesn’t mean he won’t decide to come after his family too. I’m not trying to scare you, because I don’t _think_ he will, but I’ve been wrong before. And it’s a statistical fact that over half of all murders are done by people that know the victim.”

Billy’s eyes widen and Amy looks like someone’s punched her in the solar plexus.

“You’re sure, Steve?”

He wishes he could tell her ‘no’. “There was no way to stop and do a deep check, but there were no foreign scents in the hall or in the room other than the accelerant. Not even a whiff.”

She goes paler. “What if they try for Meka again?”

“Well, pretty sure that’s why Sam the Red is hanging out here. Meka’s safe as houses with a pissed off spirit animal guarding him.” There’s no need to mention that Sam has come by his nickname by way of mauling people who annoy him by existing, apparently just to relieve boredom. Amy’s heard the stories multiple times and is well aware that the local police live in terror of the orange kitten.

She glances at Sam, who is lazing on Billy’s lap, but with ears pricked to the conversation. “He’s angry?”

“You should have heard him growl when they wanted us to do paperwork before admitting Meka. Pretty sure the poor guy was glad when Danno started in on him instead. And you know how Danno is when he gets going.”

A faint smile touches her lips as she obviously pictures it.

“We’ll be careful, Steve. We’re staying with a good friend of mine, and we’ll be sure to not be alone with anyone who I don’t know for sure that I can absolutely trust. Oh. Did you notice how Anaia’s doing out there? I didn’t realize that they wouldn’t let her in with that sniffle.”

Steve waves it off. “Danny’s got her, she’s fine. Surprised you couldn’t hear her clear in here, though, before that. She’s got a good set of lungs on her. It’s distracting him from blaming himself for not finding Meka sooner, so don’t worry about it. He’ll be happy to keep her occupied for as long as you want to stay.”

Billy squawks as Sam suddenly disappears, and Steve rolls his eyes. He’s pretty sure Danny’s about to have a purring, anxious kitten checking him over for any hypothetical damage he might have sustained in Sam’s absence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hawaiian history: Again, I've altered it to fit a space empire setting and the fact that they've always been a part of the Hemide Empire.  
> Liliuokalani was indeed the last Queen of Hawaii (and apparently the only one). She became Queen after her brother's death. He was elected as King over the Dowager Queen Emma, who was rejected on the basis of having foreign blood, despite having a very noble and 'holy' heritage on her Hawaiian side. This is where tensions between the two noble families began. And this I have chosen to keep, because it makes a good excuse for ending the Monarchy.  
> In reality, Liliuokalani tried to reinstate the Monarchy's power and was deposed by foreign business interests. President Cleveland reinstated her as Queen, but those who had initially deposed her rejected his right to do so, and eventually forced her to abdicate the throne in order to protect her followers from retaliation. Naturally, that is not the case here, and tourism and it's attendant business interests is a more recent event.  
> Liliuokalani's husband was a foreigner and, in my humble opinion, a complete jackass. While she did not have any children of her own, he had a number from extramarital affairs, and she actually informally adopted one of his sons. Although he was apparently a good political match, and someone she could rely on for advice and support. He died early into her reign.  
> Hānai is an informal form of adoption between extended families practiced by Hawaiian royals and commoners alike. Liliuokalani herself was hānai adopted and raised by the Pakis. However, bloodlines were considered very important in the election of monarchs, and none of her hānai children (of which she had three) were eligible for the throne and could not be considered her heirs.  
> Royal and noble seem to be almost interchangeable terms regarding the families that had bloodlines eligible for election if a monarch had no suitable heir. And...hm. Queen Liliuokalani was the heir of her brother who was elected after the previous King died without heirs. Likewise, he was elected when the previous King died without heirs. And _that_ King was also elected when the previous King died without heirs. That King seems to have been the fifth of a line that conquered Hawaii some time back. So definitely several royal/noble families.  
>  Liliuokalani was actually good friend with Queen Consort Emma and her husband, the King before her brother, so it makes sense to me that without outside pressures, she might choose to end the brewing feud between their families by simply eliminating the position of Monarch and replacing it with a system where more than one person would have a chance of ruling within a lifetime without anyone dying in the process. She was highly respected during her lifetime, even before becoming Queen.  
> Liliuokalani was her ruling name, her original name was Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Kamakaʻeha _(whoever invented copy/paste was a genius, because even looking at that name makes my tongue tangle)._
> 
> Thanks goes to SectorDweller for researching burn wards for me while I was glaring at this chapter, and for talking me into doing Steve's scene in the burn ward.  
> The burn ward is an open ward, so Steve, Amy, and Billy are talking quietly. And yes, there are burn wards with private rooms as well, but this is not one of them. Why? Sam. Entirely Sam. It gives him more nurse interaction to annoy them sideways by being there.


End file.
